Electrosurgical systems are used by physicians to perform specific functions during surgical procedures. Within these procedures, it may be necessary to treat more than one type of tissue or to create more than one manner of tissue effect. Existing electrosurgical systems are typically designed with limited functionality, and are not always particularly effective for treating varying tissue types. In the event that a procedure requires multiple types of tissue to be treated, the use of a single device may produce poor results in certain aspects of the procedure and necessitate that a user have available or switch between several surgical instruments to obtain the desired surgical result. For example, particular electrosurgical procedures in the knee or shoulder may require several different modes of operation to effectively treat different types of tissue. Each mode may utilize a different amount of energy, and in the related art each mode may involve the use of different electrosurgical wands and different electrosurgical controllers. In some cases, a surgeon may forgo use of the correct wand and/or electrosurgical controller to reduce expenses of the procedure, when better clinical results may have been achieved using multiple electrosurgical wands.
Any advance that makes treatment easier for the surgeon, and achieves better results, would provide a competitive advantage.